Top 5 Best Corals for Beginners
Posted by gerard on March 10, 2010 under Aquarium Info, Reef Info | 
11 Comments to Read
Ok so your new to the saltwater aquarium hobby and now you want to start to build your reef and load it up with coral frags. That’s awesome! You are going to love it. But as with my “Top 5 fish for beginners” post I will also state here to take it slow.
Here’s what you shouldn’t do first. Go out and buy a 150W-250W metal halide or T5 lighting system for 300+ dollars so you can put some hard corals in your tank. If you have a basic setup with Power Compacts that is fine for soft corals. Let’s start with some soft corals and work our way up.
This list of coral’s all have a few things in common. They are all pretty hardy. As long as you keep your water parameters good, you shouldn’t have any issues. Just remember a couple things when it comes to care and food. Buy yourself a bottle of Seachem Reef Iodide (I have been putting about 1.5ML in my 29 gallon biocube 2 times a week for the past year) and a bottle Two Little Fishies Marine Snow. (I have been doing 1 capful 3 times a week in my 29 gallon biocube.)
These coral’s do not require calcium to live. They do not need high powered metal halide or T5 lighting. A stock 29 gallon biocube can support all these coral’s.
Do your water changes every 2 weeks and your coral will spread like wildfire. Take your time, work slowly until you feel comfortable with your corals. If they are thriving then great. Then you can work your way up to the hard corals and upgrade your lighting system.
Top 5 coral’s for beginners:
- Zoanthid’s
- Star Polyp’s
- Xenia
- Leather
- Mushroom Coral
alden said,
hello im from phil does this beginners corals require chiller? i have 40 gallon aquarium w/ 30 kinds of small fish.
does this beginner corals require chillerS?
tnx ^^
admin said,
Hey Phil,
I have had all 5 of these types of soft corals and ran without a chiller. If you can keep your water temps within 75-79 degrees you should be fine. I get a nervous when the temp hits 80.
thanks…
gerard
alden said,
i see my temp here in m tank is 81 to 85 what should i do?
alden said,
my tank temp is 80 to 82 wil lit be ok? any suggestion for beginner like me! im from the philippines!
tnx!
admin said,
you could probably get away with 80 degrees but i would not chance much higher. if you can prop the lid open or put a fan over the water that may drop the temp a couple degrees. how many hours a day are you running your lights? also what kind of lights do you have?
alden said,
everyday. blue color i guess 20 to 30 watz. my normal tank temp is 81. . .
admin said,
if you only have a total of 20-30watts for a 40 gallon tank that wont be enough light. i would say you need about 100 watts of power compact, t5 or metal halide light to support those corals. 30 watts wont give them enough light to live.
alden said,
hello its me again, i a new tank which is 100 gallon, and now i have this anemones die after 1 month, my tank has already biological filter but anemones die after 1 month.
what should i do? !
admin said,
did you test your water? are your iodine and ph/alkalinity levels ok?
alden said,
nope i just bought 80w daylight from my aquarium cause i already ave this soft corals xenia and buttons polyps from the beach, is 80w enough alread for this soft corals?
admin said,
80 watts for a 100 gallon tank is not enough light to keep those soft corals. you need to be somewhere around 3-5 watts per gallon for soft coral.
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